Letters: March 3, 2019

Letters: March 3, 2019

Alex Forrest, President of UFFW, says firefighters and paramedics are sent to events where the police should be the responding service. Wednesday, February 27, 2019. Chris Procaylo/Winnipeg Sun/Postmedia Network

Fix 9-1-1

About UFFW President Alex Forrest’s comment: “Stop sending firefighters to police calls”. I agree entirely, but the problem stems from the existing 9-1-1 priority protocols. The fire department are listed as first responders when 9-1-1 calls come in. Nowadays you get two fire trucks showing up at minor fender benders and other vehicular mishaps that the participants or tow trucks used to handle. As Mr. Forrest points out firefighters are showing up at police calls. Another example is when someone’s CO alarm starts beeping because they’re hauling groceries in with their vehicle running in the attached garage. Very common and as a retired Manitoba Hydro worker sent to sniff out such calls, I remember being more than a little annoyed when two fire trucks also pulled up in front of the residence. This was redundant and simply added to the confusion. With all due respect to firefighters and the vital work they do fighting fires, I feel the 9-1-1 protocols need to be revisited to enable firefighters to continue doing the work they are mandated for and eliminate this redundancy.

As much as I would love to see Candice Malcolm as a political figure, she is needed right in the position she is in — straight talking, addressing the issues, informing the public (“Butts gone, so let’s build some pipelines,” Feb. 23). No fake news here.

Bill Vernon

She tells it like it is.

Stupid is…

Interesting letter by Russell Lastiwka calling speeding infractions a stupidity tax. Knew a chap who used to say something similar but then went through a two-week stint where he got three infractions. Then all of a sudden the system was corrupt and unfair. I suspect Russell is one bad week or two away from changing his tune.

Barry Banek

It is pretty easy to not get one of these tickets, but that doesn’t make it any less of a cash grab.

Trudeau a blocking machine

Our PM, who is a self-proclaimed feminist and champion of transparency and accountability, only believes in this when it benefits him. In the SNC-Lavalin mess, he in every way possible has successfully blocked any attempt to find out what happened. He refuses to allow Jody Wilson-Raybould to speak and defend herself. He blocks every attempt to have anybody in the PMO’s office speak. He refuses to answer even the simplest of questions in any way about anything. He cites the horror of the Stephen Harper government — yet Mr. Harper waived privilege when it came to the Mike Duffy affair. He didn’t obstruct in every way possible an inquiry into what happened. He and his office co-operated in the investigation. Ms. Wilson-Raybould abstained from voting on motions that concerned her and SNC-Lavalin. The current PM and the current minister of justice didn’t. They voted. She shows so much integrity and seems to be as honest as she can. Too bad Mr. Trudeau doesn’t. If nothing happened, why did Ms. Wilson-Raybould resign and why did Gerald Butts resign? If nothing happened, why obstruct every attempt to shed light on this very serious and troubling issue? Keeping Canada in the dark about what happened is not very sunny ways. Shut down Alberta oil, but let SNC-Lavalin get away with crimes and allow them to feed at the Liberal government trough. If SNC-Lavalin was based anywhere but Quebec, would this happen?

Andy Abbott

This issue will haunt the Liberals in the days, weeks and months ahead.

In their pocket

Listening to testimony from Jody Wilson-Raybould simply confirmed what most people already believed. However, I found the most concerning part of her statement was that she was told, “we can get numerous people to write op-eds stating that what we are doing is proper.” Clearly, a portion of the media is owned by the Liberals and that should concern everyone.

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